Hardenable dental articles including those comprising hardenable dental compositions, which are malleable and, thereby, customizable, are used extensively in restorative dentistry. For example, tooth repair with temporary and permanent dental articles such as preformed crowns or bridges, is a common procedure, where the restoration process is expedited by using a preformed dental article in the approximate shape of the tooth (or teeth) being restored. When a customized dental article is desired, multiple visits to a dentist are often required with conventional technologies such as preformed metal or polymer temporary crowns, and preformed ceramic or porcelain/metal permanent crowns.
Shrinkage may happen when hardenable dental articles are cured, which ranges from 1% to 2% and above. Such shrinkage can cause problems, for example, micro-leakage or fracture of cured hardenable dental articles, an overly tight fit of cured hardenable dental articles to a prepared tooth, etc.